Lovely Guess
by Templar Rad
Summary: A more suspenseful version of reveal. I don't want to give it away here, so read!
1. Awkward touch

**It's a story. Not a one shot! I'm tired of them, so I am making a bunch of stories. But then I'll be working hard to update them all…oh well. I've found out that I can't write during the day, staring at a word document for 20 mins around noon EST and I can't get anything. So now it's 10:00(EST) and I can write again! But don't let me keep you…Read on!**

Deryn lay there on the spine of the _Leviathan_, as the sun was setting. She was the only one topside, and it felt good, so isolated and peaceful .There was a creaking, squeaky sound as a porthole to the spine opened up.

"Dylan!" Alek yelled. Did he really have to come bug her _now_ she thought, while she felt free and was feeling the wind?

"Dylan? Are you okay?" The hint of worry from his words was enough to rouse her from her day dream. He did care…for Dylan! She thought, disgusted at her inability to tell him.

"Yes, Alek. Thanks for umm…checking?" She managed to stammer out a finish, as the situation got awkward.

Alek walked over to join her. He lay down beside her, not realizing that by touching side to side with her, he was giving Deryn another "Tingly Sensation".

"Dylan, did you hear, we're going to set down in Japan tomorrow morning!"

"Is that so? Any more news?"

"No, _Mr_. Sharp. I only know what you know." Alek says, playing with the sneer the count and Bovril use.

"Why do you say it like that?" Deryn said annoyed, swinging her hand around to cuff Alek on the side of the head.

"Hey!"Alek swings back playfully.

"Oh no you don't!" Deryn pushes him around, eventually pinning him down. She gazes into his deep green eyes, with a playful mask hiding a deep, long despair over the loss of his parents. Alek manages to push her off, using his male strength as an advantage over her.

"Dylan, you're so much lighter than I would've thought. Also softer…"Alek says, wondering why.

"Shut up, Mr. Barking Prince. I've got to go."

"But Dylan you won't be on duty until…" He is cut off when Dylan climbs down the porthole and slams it.

"How rude!" Alek says, to nobody other than himself. Dylan's sudden irritability is appalling; Alek had only pointed out the obvious and made a suggestion. Oh, was that not friendly behavior? Now that he thought about it, he regrets saying that, it was ruder than Dylan's exit.

**It's really bad. Don't remind me, I already know. Usually my first chapter's are so long and great, but this was short and awkward. This is going to be a slower fic than my other two, 'Will Alek make it?' and 'Frozen Secrets'. In that respect I mean longer and with more filler. **


	2. A Bit Stingy

**This one's a bit better, although not by much. It's sort of confusing who's point of view it is, so Alek's for dialog but a few, odd, short paragraphs of Deryn. The next one or the one after that will be longer, sorry for shortness.**

Alek got his food at the mess for breakfast, and walked over to his normal table to sit with Dylan, and Newkirk. But when Alek sits down, they both stop talking.

"What?" Alek asks, wondering if Dylan was holding a grudge about what happened yesterday evening.

"Sorry Alek, Dylan is a bit irritated by your previous behavior." Newkirk states matter-of-factly.

"I get that…Dylan, I'm sorry. I was just making an observation, I shouldn't have said anything."

"Fine." Dylan says, although clearly still a little annoyed.

They limp along with no conversation for the rest of the meal before going separate ways. Dylan to the bats, Newkirk to the bees, and Alek to the engines.

Afterwards, at lunch another conversation starts, but this time it goes differently.

"Hello boys." Newkirk says, in his most awkward/ commanding way.

"What?" Dylan says, completely blown away by this blatant statement.

"It seemed to right at the time…" Newkirk mumbles under his breath.

"Just shut up." Alek says, trying to end it. Then, trying to break the ice on his own, asks "So how was everybody's morning?"

"Fine, your princeliness" Dylan says while Newkirk is still 'shutting up'.

"Why are you so stingy, Dylan? I thought we were fine"

Deryn can't bear this anymore, her charade is going to fall apart any second now. Argghhh! Why does she have to like him? The truth is, she was never really mad. But she wanted seem like she was a boy who was insulted, when in reality she was just a little surprised he noticed.

"I…Yes…we…" Dylan's head slams the table in frustration.

"Dylan! Are you okay?"

"Same as before, fine!" Although her voice was muffled by the table.

"Okay…Do you have the afternoon off?"

"Yeah…Why?" Dylan lifts his head, setting his chin on the table.

"Fencing?" Alek asks with a wobbly smile on his face. Like a toddler who's just broken something and then is asking for something else.

"Why do you think of fencing in a barking time like this?"

"Why is this the wrong time?"

"Never mind, sure." Conversation officially ends after this, so does the meal.

They are headed to Alek's cabin to fence, they were yelled at when the poked a hole in the skin of the whale while fencing on topside, so it has to be done in a cabin.

"Dylan, is something bothering you?" Alek asks, trying to get his friend more open with his thoughts. "Do you want to talk about anything?"

"None of your business." She states coldly, although she wanted to tell him so bad! Sure, she wanted to talk about it, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. _Why?_ She asks herself. She pulls out one of the practice blades, and stands ready.

"You can tell me if anything is bothering…"Deryn takes a stab at unready Alek, only for him to parry and continue talking. " you. You won't fence well in a bad mood, and you may break some rules, endangering both of us, like you just did." He warns her.

"You asked if anything was bothering me…" Deryn asks him. She can feel the words on the tip of her tongue, and is afraid she might just blurt it out.

"Then tell me!"

Deryn pauses, looks down and off to the side, before saying "Never mind, it's nothing."

"Are you sure?" Alek still looks a little concerned.

"Yes, let's fence." Deryn suddenly lifts the charade, having had her brain win the argument of whether she will tell him or not. Little did she know her heart would keep on pushing.

***Face-Table* I invented it, I'm so happy! I know other people thought of it first, but I still came up with it on my own too. I haven't got the foggiest Idea for the next chapter other than fencing, so it may be a while. I still have two other fics to work on!**


	3. Drawing to Fence

**Here's Fencing as was promised. There's some other stuff, and…******(Spoiler)**

"Move your left foot back" Alek instructs, "No, my left!"

"Barking prince, it HAS to be YOUR left, you couldn't spare the effort to swap it" Deryn says sarcastically.

"Fine then, fence that way. I'll show you how bad stance turns out by example." Alek says, determined to teach her to follow his instructions.

They both stand ready, watching each other. Deryn makes another stab at Alek, who parry's again. She attempts this several more times until Alek pushes her blade aside with his own and wins the match.

"See?"

"It wasn't my stance it was… my arm…" Deryn then realizes this a very poor excuse so she covers with "What's fencing good for anyways, slicing apples off of people's heads? Certainly nobody fights in war with a sword these days!"

"Maybe so, but it tones muscle, improves coordination, and teaches patience and concentration."

"Aye, but what if you already have those?"

"Then…you fence more to make them better."

"Daft prince, I was saying I'm barking tired of this!"

"Dylan, we've only had one match. You'll never improve if you give up."

"Fine, but then I'll teach you how to draw."

"Fair enough." Alek says, not realizing what he agreed to.

They go through a half dozen or so matches of Deryn's repetitive losing, before she asks "Fine Alek, how does your barking stance go?"

"Like this." He poses in the most odd looking stance, yet it does seem ideal for fencing.

"This?"

"No no no, do you need help?"

"No!" But Deryn quickly muffles the word, her heart taking over, wanting Alek to come over and reposition her.

"What?"

"Blisters, I said fine!"

Alek walks over, and moves Dylan's limbs, and adjusts her torso, and even her neck. He notices again how soft his chest is, although not saying anything this time. He wonders under what circumstances it could get like that. Dylan's voice was also a bit higher. Alek had never met his cousin, Jaspert, so maybe it was 'Genetic' although Alek had no idea how that worked.

Deryn tells herself she would only feel his touch, nothing else when he moves her limbs around. But deep down she knows that she is falling head over heels for him, and that she made him come over to her for her own pleasure. There was that feeling, everywhere he touched her. Some of what he moved was pretty high up, she noted, would he notice again? He didn't say anything, so she hoped he didn't.

"Dylan, how do genetics work?"

"They don't really work, they're…Talk to the lady boffin."

"Okay. Hold that stance, and notice how your arm can always be where it needs to be to block. Now all you need is speed, precision and coordination with the sword in your hand."

"I got that. Can we try this now?"

"En Garde."

Alek makes a quick slash, which Deryn finds she is able to block. He still gets her on the rebound, but stance actually mattered!

"How was it?"

"Much better! I had no idea stance mattered that much."

"You'd be surprised. Now, can you teach me a drawing trick of equal importance might be a challenge." A wild smirk stretches across Alek's face.

"Aye, you know so little, I could probably just teach you how to hold the pencil right!" Deryn jokes.

Alek glares before answering "Let's see what I need to work on." He takes a piece of paper and quietly sketches Bovril, who was with Dr. Barlow, she was experimenting how the two Loris' talked together and became more perspicacious. He hands her the paper.

"You have most of the outline right…but it could be better. Detail needs to be more elaborate… Alek, do you know how to use the side of the pencil to shade?"

"How do you do that?"

"Here's that piece of knowledge about drawing you get to learn."

"So, how do you shade?"

"Turn the pencil on it's side like this." She shows him how. "Or, draw normally but push on the pencil very lightly. This produces a lighter grey."

"Like this?" He makes a rough shade on the inside edge of Bovril's back.

"Yes, Alek. It'll get better with practice. You'll know when it looks right."

"You're saying it's not right now?"

"Barking daft princes, they're ALWAYS right." Deryn mutters to herself sarcastically. Before saying aloud "Look at this" She opens up her sketchbook to a sketch of the _Leviathan_ from the ground on Istanbul.

"Oh…That does look…better"

"See?" Deryn asks before a message lizard arrives.

It spills out it's message in one of the Darwinist engineers voices "Aleksandar is needed in the engines, there has been a misunderstanding between us and your men over a malfunction. End message" It sits there, waiting for a response.

"ummm…I'm on my way. Err, end message?" It scurries away.

"Dylan…"

"I understand, go." Deryn says to an apologetic Alek. He then jogs out of the door.

Deryn knows he needs to go, but can't help but feel little pangs of sadness, and disappointment. They were having such a great time. Not that she particularly liked fencing, but bonding with Alek was worth going through it. The drawing however, was fun, and made her laugh. After dinner, they would have 2 hours or so before she had a night lookout shift.

**What do you think? I have an idea for the next chapter, but I'm adding this as soon as I finish it, so I haven't even thought of a title for it yet!**


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